STEP TEN: CONTINUED TO TAKE PERSONAL INVENTORY AND WHEN WE WERE WRONG, PROMPTLY ADMITTED IT (PERSEVERANCE)

The tenth Step of the 12 Steps of AA is about continued growth and vigilance. In essence, is about laying the foundation for our future.

When we are continually honest with ourselves, it is much easier to recognize triggers, behaviors, and attitudes that could result in a relapse. Admitting when we are wrong allows us to continue moving forward in humility, without the denial and self-deception that addiction brings about. It also prevents us from accumulating more emotional baggage that can slow down our recovery. Perhaps the best thing that an ongoing personal inventory does is keep us “on track”. It keeps us from straying too far from our path of recovery.

The step has 3 main components:-

1). We have entered the world of the spirit (Big Book Pg 84 lines 20-21)

This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past. We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime. Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help. Love and tolerance of others is our code.

This is the spiritual life achieved from the program of recovery. We introspect the spiritual self, choosing between turnings over our will to a Higher Power. We struggle with our faith in God, AA/NA and ourselves as our identity. We are only asking for long lasting help, letting God decide what the form of help will be verses asking for specific things (people, things e.g. jobs, material gains). Those asking for things, express anger and resentment when they don’t get what they want, meaning they have not turned over their will.

2). We have ceased fighting anything or anyone (Big book pg 84 lines 30-31)

And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone— even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality—safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.

• We need a good balance between putting other’s needs above ours and learning to get along with our family members and others, and still be able to meet our professional needs.

• We stop being self-centered and defiant, relying on our old behaviors of helplessness again. We stop being anxious, avoiding extremes neither too high nor too low, but a balanced one, with confidence, setting the right goals.

• Our family members should not expect too high or too low set ups from us. We are only human, not saints in the recovery process.

• We react sanely and normally (Big Book Pg 84, last paragraph to page 85 lines 1-12).

3). What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition_ (Big Book pg 85 lines 16-18)

It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. “How can I best serve Thee—Thy will (not mine) be done.’’ These are thoughts which must go with us constantly.

We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will.

• Reprieve – An official order cancelling or delaying a punishment.

• Contingent – Dependent on something or somebody that may or may not happen. If something is contingent on something else, the first thing depends on the second in order to happen or exist.

• A recovering addict can easily neglect his/her recovery plan. In sobriety maintenance, we are required to explore more general knowledge about our new life rather than abstinence, only in relation to sobriety. We need to think independently, using the personal inventory from AA/NA program in order to be free.

• The recovery condition we have is known as spiritual condition, maintained through spiritual reprieve principles of the steps, e.g. step 10 is that of perseverance, that is to continue to be sober in spite of difficulty.

TYPES OF INVENTORIES FOR STEP 10

1). SPOT–CHECK INVENTORY

It is the inventory taken anytime of the day.

• We either record it cognitively (in the mind) or put them down in writing on paper including names (people, institutions, and principles), the cause and character defects

• We carry around with us a pen and paper for writing.

• This helps us be clean and straight forward.

2). END OF DAY INVENTORY

This is the inventory we take at the day’s end.

• We settle well after the day’s activities and review our spot check inventory. We spot out the areas which need immediate action, prepare well to do something about them- making amends or restitution (act of giving back to a person something that was lost or stolen or of paying them money for the loss).

• We seek forgiveness then go ahead with life.

• Resentment overnight will only lead to stress.

3). THE OCCASION’S INVENTORY

This is the inventory taken at certain occasions during the day, the week, month or year.

• We include names, date, cause, contact and character defects associated with it.

SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES

1). Perseverance

We become consistent and continue observing the taking of personal inventory and we admit our wrongs. It is the only way to be on the sobriety track. Our behavior which could cause harms are easy to overcome.

2). Self-Discipline

Recovery is very demanding. Self-discipline of recovery calls on us to do certain things regardless of how we feel. We go to meetings regularly and even when we’re feeling hostile towards the demands that recovery makes on us.

3). Honesty

We no longer hide behind defects but we are able to see our true motives even when faced with challenges. We are usually nothing less than amazed at the range and depth of our honesty by this point of recovery. Where before we may have had honest hindsight, able to see on our true motives along after a situation was over, we are now able to be honest with ourselves, about ourselves while the situation is still occurring.

4). Integrity

It is integrity more than anything else that commands our ability to practice other principles. Integrity knows which principles we need to practice in a given situation and in what measure. Most of the time it isn’t necessary to prove we have integrity by confronting a situation we don’t approve of.